The Buffalo Planning Board approved plans for a $2 million redevelopment of 430 Virginia Street in Allentown on Tuesday. Kissling Interests is planning ten live-work units for the building to be named “Allentown Lofts.” Eight units will be single-level and two will be duplexes. According to developer Anthony Kissling, the units will be “very New York City-like and by far the best lofts in town.”
Kissling purchased the 22,000 sq.ft., four-story building at the northeast corner of Park Street in October 2006. Constructed in 1924, the building at one time housed the National Casket Company. It most recently was owned by Yorktown Caskets Inc. based in York, Pennsylvania.
Exterior improvements include a new steel and glass entryway on the east elevation (rendering above), replacement of existing windows with aluminum-clad wood windows to match the original in size and design, and creating new and larger window openings in the basement. Enclosed parking will be available. Silvestri Architects P.C. designed the project.
The one and two-bedroom units will average 2,000 sq.ft. and include approximately 1,300 sq.ft. of open and flexible live/work space. Live-work units provide work and housing space, ideal for the needs of small businesses and artists.
Work is expected to begin in the spring and take eight to nine months to finish. Rents are anticipated to be in the $2000 to $2100 range.
Kissling Interests, LLC purchased its first local building in May 1999 and has been buying historic apartment buildings primarily located on or near Delaware Avenue. The firm now has twenty residential properties with 870 units in Buffalo, owns three commercial buildings, and has a similar work/live project planned in North Tonawanda. The company has been in the real estate business since its inception, purchasing and operating property in and around Manhattan for over 130 years.
Get Connected: Kissling, 716.853.2787